The Blood Traitor: End of the Line
by vastrajennystrax
Summary: BOOK FOUR: A year has passed since the Death Eaters took over the Ministry and Andromeda's husband was kidnapped by Bellatrix. Plots and intrigues now spark in the Order of the Phoenix itself and Andromeda has to look for help in the Death Eaters themselves as well as her friends in the Order; but can the blood traitor uncover the secret of the lost child that could save them all?
1. The Fidelius Charm

"Leave it, Tonks. You're only hurting yourself more by looking into it; we'll get him back" reassured Sirius in his calmest voice. Andromeda had spent too much time this past year gazing into the two-way mirror that had been a wedding present from a stranger, but every so often she saw the familiar welcoming green eyes of Ted gleaming hopelessly at her from who-knows-where. As much as it pained her to hear him talk about the torture he was going though, it had relieved her to know that the Death Eaters hadn't killed him yet. _Why have they kept him alive? _she often wondered.

"You're right" she replied to her cousin, "when do we have to leave?"

"Any minute now". Sirius had temporarily moved in with Andromeda and her normally-lively daughter Nymphadora, although the seven year old had adopted the short mousy brown hairstyle that signified she missed her father.

The portkey was an old hairbrush which had been given to them by Dumbledore in order to take them to Godric's Hollow; tonight's mission was too top secret to risk brooms, thestrals or the floo network (which was being watched by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named).

"Twenty seconds" Sirius warned.

"Nymphadora!" Andromeda called up the stairs; her daughter arrived almost immediately. "Do everything Nelly and Hepzibah tell you to do, and look after our guest! I won't be too long" she gave her daughter and hug and then joined Sirius in the kitchen. The guest she had been referring to was a ten year old boy with electric blue eyes and dark blonde hair who had been living with them ever since his adoptive parents had been murdered at the Ministry of Magic. But the boy wouldn't tell her his name, so Andromeda simply referred to his as 'guest'.

"Is it wise to the kids alone with paintings?" Sirius asked.

"Almost everyone else from the Order will be in Godric's Hollow tonight, and in these times you're no safer with a living person watching over you" she tried not to sound bitter and subdued but she couldn't help it.

"Now!"

The ground in Godric's Hollow was slightly dusted with snow even though it was now nearly March. There was a little stone church marking the centre of the village with quaint cottages surrounding it. Andromeda and Sirius reached the second-to-last cottage in no time, having only to follow the signs of secrecy along the footpath.

"Come in, quickly" whispered a desperate voice from the doorway as they entered the house, only to look into a living room filled with people. Andromeda turned around to see the speaker, her flowing red hair starting to look slightly grey with worry despite the young age of the woman.

"Is everyone here?" Sirius asked the woman after hugging her.

"Nearly, we're just waiting for Frank and Alice now".

"How's Harry?"

"Come on upstairs, he's sleeping". Andromeda told the pair that she would wait in the living room with the others as Sirius followed the dainty figure of Lily Potter up the staircase towards the sound of a baby stirring in his sleep.

She walked over to a familiar couple who were stood in the corner of the room holding hands encouragingly. The man was tall and pale with aging salt-and-pepper hair that clashed with his elaborately colourful robes. The woman was his opposite, her blue eyes were so bright that they framed her beautiful faced amidst her long auburn hair and she dressed even more bizarrely than he did.

"Tonks!" they beamed at the same time; she greeted Quentin Jones and Carmen Ironwood with similar enthusiasm. It wasn't until they shared quick hugs that she noticed Carmen's rapidly swollen stomach.

"You're-"

"That's right" squealed Carmen, "we decided as soon as we got married we wanted to start having children; nowadays there's no time like the present". There was a solemn silence as they all realised how in a few weeks or months they might no longer be around to have children.

"Where's Alastor?" inquired Andromeda to break the silence.

"He's getting his artificial leg today; 'bout time too! he's been itching to get back in the fight and start yelling at us for blowing the operation" answered Quentin, causing the trio to laugh despite themselves.

It was a now a year since Andromeda had comprehended the prophecy which she was told she needed to work out in order to make things right. She had been told that the child of Mad-Eye Moody's who had survived a Death Eater attack in Bulgaria was _one of three _but she had only narrowed it down to two. If Nelly was still alive, despite Moody's ambiguous appearance, she would be too old to be his child and she looked too much like Lydia and Jacob White from what Andromeda had seen in pictures.

"Good for him" Andromeda muttered to her companions.

"Sirius says Ted's still alive, Tonks. Trust me; we'll find him and destroy You-Know-Who all at once and then everything will be back to normal". _If only _Andromeda thought sadly, _my life has been everything but normal since I was fifteen._

"They're here!" announced Remus Lupin as the Longbottoms were escorted into the room by James. They didn't look as happy as the usually did; the colour had almost completely drained from their faces and they looked as if they were hollowed and subdued inside; they had been avoiding Andromeda for some weeks now.

"I'm guessing you're contemplating their miserable expressions and unkempt appearances?" whispered a warm, humble voice beside Andromeda, "I can only guess but, not to sound over-confident, I normally guess these things right". She turned her head slightly to see shockingly the long white back and smiling, wrinkled face of Albus Dumbledore.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you not noticed that they have been avoiding you these past few weeks?"

"Yes, but I don't know why-"

"Where the Potters are being targeted by Lord Voldemort, it appears that Frank and Alice Longbottom have been targeted by your sister; Bellatrix Lestrange".

"But why?"

"Nobody knows, although I do have my suspicions. They do not judge or blame you, of course, but they fear that their son is more vulnerable now to Death Eater attacks".

"Is it time?" asked Lily from the doorway, Sirius stood right behind her.

"James, I will ask you once more to consider me for this task" Dumbledore pleaded of the bespectacled, messy-haired wizard.

"Thank you for offering, Albus; but me and Lily think that the spell will be more powerful with a close friend as Secret Keeper". Dumbledore eyed Sirius in a peculiar fashion, but didn't protest any more on the matter.

"So what do I need to do?" asked Sirius.

"Actually" Lily interjected, "we decided that it would be too obvious if it was our best friend who was Secret Keeper-"

"So we want Peter to do it" James finished. For the first time since arriving at the house in Godric's Hollow Andromeda noticed a snivelling lump of a man cowering in the corner; clearly in his twenties but already balding and slightly hunchbacked.

"Everyone needs to go upstairs while the Fidelius Charm is cast; then it is Peter's responsibility to reintroduce you into this room so that you have permission to enter at will" announced Dumbledore.

"Let's go see the baby" added the majestic figure of Kingsley Shacklebolt from behind a cream coloured armchair.

...

"He's beautiful" mused Andromeda as she held the baby in her arms. She had grown close enough to the Potters over this last year to know them as well as she knew Ted and Nymphadora. The boy had messy tufts of dark brown hair on top of his head that was just like James' and brilliant green eyes like his mother's. It was only later that Andromeda realised how similar they were to Ted's.

"Follow me" called the man named Peter from the bottom of the stairs. Andromeda laid the baby boy back in his crib before following the rest of the Order of the Phoenix out of the bedroom and down the stairs. After being 'let in on the secret' the various witches and wizards filed out and left the Potter's home.

"Carmen?" Andromeda called out to the pregnant woman. They were stood in the snow outside the church of Godric's Hollow while Sirius was saying goodbye to his friends and Quentin was conversing with Kingsley.

"Tonks, if it's about-"

"You _know _that I want to now about your family. Please, are any of them still alive? When did you last see them?"

"I've already told you" she tried not to sound irritated, "I've only got one family member still alive and I haven't seen him since I was on holiday with my family years ago-"

"Carmen! Are you ready?" bellowed Quentin from across the square.

"One second!" she addressed Andromeda once more, "it's too dangerous for me to tell you any more; I'm sorry". While she waited for Sirius, Andromeda couldn't help thinking about the prophecy and how she didn't understand why figuring it out would help to destroy the Death Eaters; and then she thought about her imprisoned husband and how she needed to figure it out if she was to see him alive in person again.


	2. A Visit From Snivellus

The glass was frosting over. She had gone straight to the two-way mirror on her nightstand after returning from Godric's Hollow in the hope of reassuring Ted that all was well, but she couldn't see or hear anything past the desolate haze. Holding back a river of tears she calmly pressed her ear against the cold glass and heard a subtle, tortured voice echo the words _I love you_. Ted's voice, whether pleased or pained, filled her with hope at the knowledge of him still being alive.

"Is he okay?" squeaked Nymphadora from the bedroom doorway; Andromeda hadn't seen her standing there; her brown hair even mousier than ever. When she told her daughter that Ted was still fine the girl's hair flared golden-blonde for a fraction of a second.

"How's the boy?" Andromeda asked, referring to the mysterious adopted child of Mr and Mrs White who was staying with them.

"He's with Sirius" the girl answered, "he scares me"

"Why?"

"I hear him shouting in his sleep. Something about missing his family; he wants to see someone from his family but he's not allowed to".

"And how is that any scarier than what we're going though? Be nice to him, that boy's gone through too much torment already; even more than us". Nymphadora left her mother to her worries and closed the door behind her. Andromeda couldn't help reflecting on the tragedies which had dictated her life more than it should have done. _First Nelly _she thought contemptuously, _then Kendra, Jacob and Lydia, _the tears were now rolling down her cheeks, _and now Ted's in danger, the Potters, the Longbottoms-_

"Look on the bright side, dearest" beamed an operatic voice from the stairs just outside Andromeda's door, "you're rich and safe; I'd say you're doing well". Andromeda threw the door open and marched straight over to the painting of Hepzibah Smith with a furious countenance:

"How _dare _you?!" she raged, "innocent people are dying at the hands of these masked murderers and I have to sit back and watch everyone point the finger because it was _my _sister who helped make it happen! It's bad enough that I have to watch my friends being kidnapped, tortured, and murdered! But then I have to stand in a room with the survivors and see how much they mistrust me!"

"And how does that make you feel?" interjected another painting beside Hepzibah's. Andromeda had broken down at the funeral of Jacob and Lydia White; they had left her Nelly's portrait in the joint Will knowing that she would cherish it more than anyone.

"It makes me feel like I'm back at school" she told her best friend, "when everyone stayed away from the Slytherin student because 'she hated Muggles' and 'she wanted to join the Death Eaters' and all those other rumours that I had to suffer with because _she _was my sister!"

"Exactly" was all Nelly said.

"What?"

"At Hogwarts you didn't give in and accept the image that had been given to you; you took Muggle Studies, befriended Hufflepuffs and fought you're own evil sister even though you were pressured into being _exactly _like her. Now you've got to prove yourself again, you need to stop Bellatrix and save Ted if you want people to realise the error of their ways like I did". The two witches smiled at each other and, like she always felt after talking to Nelly, Andromeda desperately wanted to hug her but knew she never could.

"Thanks _Nymphadora_" said Andromeda.

"You know I don't like that name" the young girl in the painting smiled despite herself, "and Hepzibah, my best friend here told me that Muggles have a device known as a 'wood-chipper' that your tacky frame could easily fit into". The plump woman from Nelly's neighbouring painting looked disgusted and walked out of her picture like she always did when Nymphadora Jr. called her fat.

Andromeda went back to her bedroom to see if the mirror was still frosted over, but to her confusion it was no longer on the nightstand. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment before noticing that it had fallen on the floor. As she bent down to pick up the mirror her whole body froze; she heard the door click behind her and a shadow cross the room and the distinct outline of a wand in its raised hand.

_"Lumos" _she whispered, trying not to sound as terrified as she felt, "show yourself". The dark shadow ambled across the room in front of her as if it was too dismayed to hide itself but still wished to convey a sense of mystery and fear, _success, then _Andromeda thought darkly.

"I have a question" whispered a deep voice from the darkest corner.

"Who are you?" she asked

"A traitor"

"Why are you here?"

"I have a question. Two questions, in fact. A question from Mrs Lestrange and a question from me".

"Why won't you tell me who you are?"

"I'm a traitor"

"Fine" she was worried that she sounded too confident and that the sinister stranger would take it as a challenge and kill her on the spot. "What are you questions?"

"Mrs Lestrange would like to know; how much blood will the blood traitor allow to be spilt before she gives herself in for love and for death?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she knew how sinisterly dramatic her sister could be in times of danger and violence.

"Mr Tonks could return to his daughter tonight if you offered to take his place; the Dark Lord has given Bellatrix one more month before he kills the Mudblood himself _with or without your sacrifice". _Andromeda had a hundred more questions to ask the Death Eater but she knew he hadn't yet finished.

"And what if your question?" she inquired bitterly.

"Help".

"I'm sorry?"

"Help me save her". Her head was spinning; a dark wizard was asking her to help him after threatening her with the death of her husband.

"Who do you want to save? Why?"

"It's all my fault"

"What is?"

"I heard the prophecy and I told him; he won't stop until her son is dead but I know she is too loving to not stand in the way and sacrifice herself first!" To Andromeda's surprise and horror the man fell to the floor in tears and she didn't know what to do but lower her wand and approach him.

"Snivellus" she whispered in realisation.

"What?"

"That's what they called you; the boys who picked on you when you where at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I heard some of them talking about you in my Muggle Studies class was I taught at the school, you were in Slytherin House and you were friends with Lil-"

"Please don't say her name; just thinking of it fills me with guilt knowing that it's my fault she's in danger".

"What makes you think she's in danger?"

"The Potters; have they or have they not cast the Fidelius Charm on their house in Godric's Hollow?"

"They have, yes".

"And has Dumbledore told you _why _they've done that?"

"He said it was precautionary"

"So why do none of the other members of the Order of the Phoenix have similar protective spells on their houses?" Andromeda thought about this for a very long time and couldn't think of an answer to the intruder's question.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Warn Dumbledore, he won't listen to me".

"But doesn't he already-"

"Yes but he doesn't realise that the Dark Lord is planning to attack the Potters very soon; the Fidelius Charm won't work".

"Why not?"

"I said I was a traitor; traitors tend to spot others when they see they signs".

"Why should I believe you?"

"You shouldn't. But if you help me save her I'll help you save _him_". Andromeda stopped breathing for a moment; she knew exactly who _he _was. Could she actually work with a Death Eater if it meant saving her husband?

"I'll talk to Dumbledore" she said, but the figure had disappeared from the room as if he already knew what she was prepared to risk in order to see Ted again.


End file.
